THE HOLE

Taiwan, France | 1998 | 35mm | 95 min. | Mandarin with English subtitles
Director: Tsai Ming-Liang
Cast: Yang Kuei-Mei, Lee Kang-Sheng, Miao Tien
In The Hole, unusual interactions between two residents (Lee and Yang) of an apartment building in an apocalyptic, virus-ridden Taipei become the foundation for a one-of-a-kind movie musical. Goodbye, Dragon Inn filmmaker Tsai Ming-Liang’s work is often harsh and excruciatingly sad. Yet amid the static long takes and palpable loneliness, Tsai always finds clever ways to complicate the grimness of his subjects, tinkering with genre and bone-dry humor. One of Tsai’s finest films, The Hole will screen on a brand new 35mm print courtesy of Big World Pictures. (JM)